The Waldo Canyon Fire significantly changed our landscape in more ways than one. Due to the vegetation that was burned, there are no longer roots holding onto the soil. Both the hillsides and areas downstream are now at risk of significant erosion, debris flow, and flooding. Residents and businesses in those areas should be prepared for flooding, are strongly encouraged to purchase flood insurance, and should visit the City’s Flooding Risk Information Page for flood risk areas, steps to take during a flood event, and more.

City Hall Vegetable Garden Call for Volunteers

Looking for a fun volunteer project for your kiddos, officemates, or organization this summer? Look no further than the City Hall Veggie Garden! Planning is underway for the 2013 season and we need YOU to help make it happen! If you’re free for just one day or several, we’d love to have your crew plant, water, and weed our teeny urban garden spaces. Crops will be donated to Care and Share. Fill out this online form and we’ll contact you with more info.

Pikes Peak Highway Award

Did you know that the Pikes Peak Highway is now fully paved!? Did you know that it won an award for using 1,094 tires in the asphalt!? It is called terminal blend tire rubber asphalt and makes the road quieter and safer, as well as is a creative reuse for tires. This blend has been used in several locations around town, including a portion of Union. Hooray for repurposing!

Composting is Cool

Once you throw something away, where is away?? There is no away. Our garbage is sent to a landfill to live out its life in a hole in the ground. There are currently 3,091 active landfills and over 10,000 old landfills in the U.S. How long does it take for your garbage to break down? How can you get started composting? Find out more below…

The Waldo Canyon Fire burned over 18,000 acres in five major watersheds just west of Colorado Springs in the summer of 2012. Almost 60% of the burn scar has a soil burn severity of moderate or high. Environmental rehabilitation of the burn will take years and will require collaboration between a multitude of government agencies and nonprofit organizations. Community volunteers will play a critical role in completing much of the on-the-ground hand crew work such as slope stabilization and seeding. Learn more about their work and how you can get involved below.

Are you doing what you love and loving what you do? Steve Tobak published an article in Critical Thinking on what motivates people, empowers them, and makes them happy to come to work. Besides the paycheck, good employees are looking for 9 key things. As a manager, are you providing these? As an employee are you receiving them? Read on to learn the keys to a more fulfilling job.

March Lunch-N-Learn: iCAST's ResourceSmart Business and Multi-Family Retrofits

The City’s next Green Bag Lunch-n-Learn on Thursday, March 21 (note: different location Room 701) features non-profit iCAST’s ResourceSmart program that helps businesses and multi-family housing owners make energy upgrades both easy and affordable. As the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Technical Assistance provider for affordable housing properties, they can also advise owners, as to whether their property improvements qualify for financial assistance. ResourceSmart projects are designed to be cash-flow positive, the energy savings for the building will pay for the investment of upgrades so there is no additional money needed. It’s a simple process where the savings from the utilities goes directly towards the investment. What’s great is that the project comes out as a cash positive scenario putting the money right back into the owners pocket! Click below to learn more.